Unlocking Desires
by snowstormjonerys
Summary: Well this is an insert collection of ficlets that fit somewhere in the Prisoner of War verse. Hope you enjoy this little jaunt into some slightly darker desirous territory. Established Bethyl, season 3 and 4 era, an AU where the prison has not fallen. Rated M
1. Chapter 1

**This exists somewhere within the verse of "Prisoner of War" as will all of my ficlets for Smut Week. It was the most logical choice because I needed established Bethyl that was slightly sexy for what I have planned, which will end up being full tilt explicit. So enjoy this little teaser to kick off Bethyl Smut Week and may the force (of Energizer) be with you this week. ;) I have to thank Popculturesalad like endlessly because she is my bae and she helped me get this out to you guys. So be sure and thank her! And read her fic "Certainty". It's amazeballs.**

Beth leaned over the side of the bed to retrieve her panties off the floor, her fingers closing over the string of her thong. She pulled them on over her legs and glanced sideways at Daryl who was eyeing her, clearly somethin' going on in that sexy head of his. "What?" Beth felt a smile creep up on her. This happened often in his presence nowadays. Smiling for no apparent reason. Especially after they had sex, which, also, was often. He shook his head. "Nothin'."

"Just putting my panties back on in case we do something else with our day." She loved teasing him about his sexual appetite though it was getting less fun as he came to accept that part of himself as being normal. Now that he readily owned up to his desires and he was less apt to turn ten shades of red, it took some of the fun out of the picking. Though she had to admit, his relaxed attitude towards sex made other things more fun.

Daryl gave a derisive snort. "Those ain't panties. They're dental floss."

Beth giggled. "You weren't complainin' about them last night. The way you were looking at me in them."

All at once he lunged at her and her eyes went wide as she found herself pinned underneath him, his broad muscled arms propping him up on either side, his knee nudging her thighs apart for him to settle between her legs and she spread them readily, feeling him press against her. He was still completely naked from their rousting session of middle of the night sex.

"Told ya Greene". Oh his voice had gone all dark and gravelly and she felt a flood of wetness between her legs. "They were in my way. Kinda like they are now." He repositioned himself so he could run his hand down her body, fingers dipping in at her navel, swirling around once before toying with the hem of her pink thongs, pulling them back and letting them slap lightly against her skin.

She lost her breath a bit at the unspoken promise, that he was going to enjoy peeling them from her body. And soon. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you want me naked all the time, Mr. Dixon." He fairly growled at her then, deep, rumbling in his throat, and Beth gasped as he dipped his head down, pressing his nose into the sensitive flesh there.

"See now you're getting the idea, Ms. Greene." Almost immediately he came back up and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, pulling back to look at her as he played with the elastic on the leg opening of her panties, so close to her cunt she nearly shook with anticipation. But his eyes? They remained locked on hers. She had long ago come to the realization that he liked to watch her reactions to his touches more than anything else. She was not about to complain either. Having Daryl Dixon regard you so with his steely blue eyes whilst he fingered you to orgasm? Yes, please, and thank you.

"Guess this means we're not doing anything else with our day." She gasped out the last word as his finger dipped under the elastic of her panties, sliding home over her clit, the warmth of his callused fingers rough but slippery with her juices was enough to bring her hips off the bed and have her reaching for his arms, the sheets, her fingers clamoring for anything to hold onto.

She should have guessed he'd have that covered. He pulled her into his embrace, his hand spanning her back, protectively while locking her in place against him, submitting her to his will. He kept one hand free for the moment, to run his finger back and forth rhythmically over that bundle of nerves that would make her fall apart given the proper amount of time and coaxing.

"Nah I have other plans for us. Well for you anyway. But first we're gonna take these off." He pulled on the fabric of her thong. And then proceeded to do just that. He eased them over her hips and slid them from her ankles. He smirked as he dropped them to the floor. Right where she'd just picked them up not five minutes ago.

Back at the start of all this he'd complained that he was too old and he would never be able to keep up with an 18 year old. Beth vowed that soon she'd have to tell him he was wrong about that. She thought he was doing just fine. In fact she was starting to worry that she might not be able to keep up with him. His appetite was voracious and _all male_.

And as looked at her from where was kneeling before her on the floor in front of their bed, he gave her that look that let her know she was done for. He pulled on her ankles, sliding her to the bottom of their bed, her ass flush with the edge of the mattress while he knelt before her, putting his face between her legs, like he was contemplating a prayer and she guessed that's what he was doing because not five minutes later she was calling out. "Oh God Daryl yes!" at the top of her lungs while she quaked and shivered and shook as his tongue was relentless against her, flicking and licking and as he sucked her clit into his mouth, she fell apart finally, gloriously, _loudly._ She probably looked something like a fish out of water and sound like a siren but she didn't care if everyone did hear. It felt damn _good_. And she wasn't about to apologize for that kind of pleasure.

She would have never guessed all this would come from a pair of thongs. Then again, she would have never guessed she'd be on the receiving end of oral pleasure from Daryl Dixon. Not in a million years. No one else would guess it either she reckoned. She still rather enjoyed the look on her sister's face when she'd found out.

As she finally came back down to this plane after her near-earth-shattering orgasm, she turned the tables on him and pushed him back on the bed, wrapped her lips around his cock, making him grunt and groan out syllables in her name that weren't there and gasping out words that didn't exist. At least not in the English language. He came moments later with a gush of thick ropy streams, warm and wet all down the back of her throat. And she swallowed every drop as he lay a boneless mess beneath her, just like she'd been earlier.

It was a long time that day before they got up to do anything else that day and even when they did, all either of them could think about was coming back to their room and exploring each other all over again. They did come to an agreement though. She'd dispense with wearing the thongs and when possible, she'd wear no panties at all. She could tell by the smirk on his face before he closed his eyes later that night that he _thought_ he was getting his way; having her relatively unclothed.

What he had failed to realize though was the power that would give her. Because she could think of nothing better than leaning over to whisper in his ear at breakfast. "You like this skirt baby? Good. Don't forget, I'm not wearing anything under it." Then just watch him melt into a puddle of desire and raw need into the floor under the table. Yes, this was going to be fun indeed.

 **Don't forget to review. ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

_"Teach me."_

That had become their thing, hadn't it? She had asked him to teach her how to shoot his bow and he had; now she was nearly as good as he was. Nearly. He smirked thinking how she had sassed him and told him she wouldn't need him anymore at all. So fucking sure of herself (he secretly liked that about her). The statement was funny to him considering just the night before she'd been telling him to never stop fucking her (he'd been balls deep in her at the time of course). He smirked to himself. He figured that was at least one thing she'd always need him for.

He sure needed her, though he had been slow to admit it at first. As much as he was teaching her how to hunt and track and defend herself, she'd taught him things he didn't even know he needed to learn. Things he didn't even know about himself; just fundamental truths. And one of those truths was an all-consuming knowledge that he needed her. Somehow the man who'd never relied on anyone for anything, not even as a kid, had centered his entire existence around a five feet nothing blonde who'd inched her way under his skin when he wasn't even looking. He figured even if he had been paying attention when she'd taken his world and turned it upside down, even if he had watched her every move, he wouldn't change a thing. Because the thing was he was better for it. All of it. He was a better man because of her.

He turned his attention back to the forest floor, scanning for clues. She'd hidden pretty good this time. He'd found a cave on his last run with T-Dog before he'd gotten killed, sacrificed himself for Carol, and he'd forgotten all about it until a few days ago when he and Beth had planned this training session. He had told her about it then, how far it was hidden in the forest against an outcropping of rock where an old quarry had been. The area was so overgrown now with vegetation that you could hardly discern that there was anything there at all. You had to move aside the bushes to see that it wasn't just the smooth face of a rock jutting up into the southern sky. Instead hidden in the underbrush was the mouth to a small cave that nature had carved out and from the droppings inside it, it appeared to have been a wolf den at some time. Coyote maybe.

He accounted her inability to nab the last buck they'd come across to the fact that she couldn't pull the weight of his bow by herself. He'd need to find her one of her own and soon. Runs were getting more and more sparse, mainly because they'd exhausted all the surrounding areas to scavenge, but with Beth knowing how to use a bow too, the sky was the limit for all the fresh meat they would need for the coming winter.

Once they'd moved on from hunting, he'd started teaching her how to track. It was important to him that she know exactly how to find her way out of any situation. He'd learned at an early age. Nothing like getting lost in the woods as a boy to teach you a sense of direction. He probably hadn't been in any real danger that time he'd disappeared into the woods for a few days and he'd only cried for the first half day then he'd vowed he wasn't ever getting lost again. He would know his way around so if someone ever dropped him into the middle of the wilderness he could find his way out. Even if he was blindfolded, naked and tied to a tree, he figured he could get himself back to civilization if he tried. Thing was, there wasn't no civilization to make it back to now and that was kind of the point of all their lessons wasn't it.

He guessed what he was doing with Beth was kind of a reverse survivalist boot camp. Teaching her how to track, but more than anything teaching her how to stay hidden. He knew what the men of this world could do before it turned to shit. He spent about two seconds thinking about what the depraved men of this new world could do to her. His Beth. He got one image of some grimy man's hands all over her perfectly unmarred alabaster flesh and it set his blood into a boiling rage. He decided then and there that he'd teach her.

She was a fast learner too. He was presently picking his way through acres and acres of backwoods Georgia and it was apparent that Indian Summer was upon them, that time of year when the weight of the air was greater than the clothes on your body and all you wanted to do was lie in the shade and melt into the day.  
But they didn't get the luxury. Not out here. Not inside the fences much anymore either. It had gotten bad, having to clear out the fences around the clock, a steady stream of walkers always seeming to pile in on them. He felt guilty for taking this time today for this new lesson, but he sensed a change coming. A change he wasn't sure they were ready for but he was gonna make damn certain he'd done everything he could to prepare them for the worst. Prepare her for the worst. Just in case. He'd been feeling extra antsy about it and he knew it had been showing too. It wasn't anything he could put a finger on, just something that made his haunches rise and the hairs on his neck stand at attention.

He silently crouched down, inspecting the bark of an old birch, the branches having long fallen off and now it was just the a cylindrical skeleton of what it used to be stretching up into the Georgia skyline, the gnarled and chipped bark now sporting patches of moss and lichen. New life always taking over the old, parasites leeching what they could from what was left of the dead. Survival of the fittest.

He felt his lips curve up into a smile as he plucked his clue from where it was caught in the splintered wood; one very long blonde hair. He held it to his nose, inhaling deeply, just to be certain it hadn't been one that belonged to the long dead that still walked about. It still held just a hint of musk and that lilac shampoo she was so fond of. He was fond of it too, he'd spent more than his fair share of time with his nose pressed against her hair, the strands tickling his nostrils while she gasped his name into the air around them, his cock slamming into her core, shaking both of them into that state suspended between time. Where it was just them and their bodies and the pleasure they could draw from one another (or some shit).

He concentrated on the task at hand and that was finding her. Though he'd have to coach her a bit about more ways to keep from being found like pulling that mass of hair of hers up into a ponytail and a hat wouldn't hurt either. As much as he loved her long, luxurious locks of blonde hair, sometimes he thought she should cut it. Then he thought maybe that might be too extreme and dismissed himself for being so rash. He would go to any length necessary to keep her safe. But for now, though they were going to be okay.

He shelved the thought for later as he picked his way back around. A few minutes later, he was almost to the cave, which meant she likely won their little bet if he'd just found a trace of her. He considered for a minute that she could have deposited that hair on the tree on her way to hide but dismissed it almost immediately as in tracing back through their course over the past thirty minutes, that particular path hadn't been traversed on the way out. No, he was sure of it now.

She was probably sitting pretty, tucked into some corner of the cave, eating trail mix while she waited for him to show back up. He was proud of her in that moment as it meant she was getting better at making herself scarce. At the same time, she was going to be proud of herself too and there would be no living with her. Because when Miss Beth Greene-Dixon was full of herself, everyone knew about it. Especially him.

* * *

Beth sat cross-legged on the floor of the cave and tried to imagine the animals that had once inhabited it. Daryl had said it might have been wolves and she liked that idea. For some reason, the thought of a mother wolf bringing back dinner to her pups, them just waiting on her here, appealed to her. Or maybe it was the she-wolf who was waiting on her mate. That idea appealed to her even more because she had come to associated Daryl with a wolf, just kind of rough and sometimes when they were making love, he almost sounded like something in the wild. Sometimes she thought maybe she did too. He brought sounds out of her she didn't even know she was capable of making.

She blushed at the memory of Maggie bringing it up one morning. Way after she had finally gotten the bee out of her bonnet about her and Daryl being together.

"Never thought I'd have to compete with my baby sister like this." Maggie said one morning as they were brushing their teeth. Beth had stared at Maggie questioningly and shrugged her shoulders. Maggie had that gleam in her eye though and then she'd said. "You know, for who is the loudest during sex." She had nearly spit toothpaste all over her sister.

Then she'd taken the time to rinse her mouth out, wishing she'd actually choked so she wouldn't have to face her, her face about as red as it had ever been. It was one thing for her to know about her having sex, it was quite another to talk about it.

Oh sure, Maggie had bragged all the time about her sexual exploits with Glenn but her and Daryl just weren't like that. They liked to keep that part of their relationship, well, private. She couldn't help it if Daryl made her scream like nobody's business. It was part of the reason why they had moved to the library.  
Once she had composed herself somewhat she finally was able to form words again. "How did you even hear us? We're all the way in the basement."  
Maggie had grinned. "Me and Glenn came to see if you wanted to trade shifts with us in the tower."

Beth went back over the past couple of days in her mind, scanning her memories and came up with nothing. Because they had sex pretty much every day. Sometimes several times a day. It could have been any number of times they'd come together in the past day or two.

She stole a glance over her shoulder. They were alone in the prison bathroom at the moment and she turned back to her sister. "So let me get this straight. You're actually jealous of me of something." It was true. Maggie had never been jealous of her a day in her life. It was usually the other way around. And on Beth's part it was not actually jealousy as much as it was quiet envy. Maggie had always been considered the prettier one, smarter one. Stronger one.

"What are you talkin' about Bethie? I've always been jealous of you. You're beautiful. Bright. Funny. And don't tell Glenn but Daryl is hot!"

"Maggie!" Beth swatted at her sister's arm.

"Don't get me wrong, Glenn is hot too, but Daryl's arms. And his hands! Just tell me, does the whole hand and feet thing hold true? 'Cause damn his hands are huge." Maggie laughed and Beth couldn't help it she giggled right along.

"I am _not_ answering that, Margaret Greene." She looked at her sister and smiled softly. "This feels nice". And it did, just the two of them having a normal sister conversation. Well relatively normal anyway.

"But let's get this straight, I'm not jealous of you for findin' happiness. I'm truly happy for you and Daryl. It didn't make sense to me at first but seeing you two together. It just works." Maggie smiled softly at her and Beth leaned in and threw her arms around her sister's neck in a sudden impulsive hug. Time was short these days. They couldn't afford to stay mad at one another, no matter the reason. The important thing is they were family and they were together. Material possessions, fame, fortune, none of that meant anything anymore. All anyone had in this world was each other now.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a distant rumble of thunder. Beth smiled at the memory and toed her boot in the dirt. It was taking him too long. The thought sparked a sudden niggling fear that maybe he might not find her. Maybe he had gotten hurt. Maybe. Her what if thought train was interrupted by the rustling of the bushes outside the entrance to the cave. Walkers weren't likely to stumble into this area so she sprang to her feet and held her knife at the ready, her back pressed to the cave wall as she awaited her intruder.

* * *

He scratched rhythmically on the outside of the cave entrance, to alert her to his presence. All pretense could be dropped now that he knew she was safe. He hadn't seen her yet, but he could sense her presence. They had that about one another now, just knowing when the other was near. It's why he wasn't the least bit surprised to find that she was waiting for him, throwing her arms around his neck as soon as he entered the cave. He was however surprised that she had already sheathed her knife again, without giving a thought to who was coming through the bushes. He pulled her arms from around his neck and held her at arm's length, gripping her wrists, careful not to bruise her delicate skin. He just needed her to understand.

"Where's your knife? I coulda been anybody." He barked and she didn't even bat an eyelash, but he saw the flare in her eyes. That spark she always got. Good.

"I knew it was you, Daryl." She smiled at him softly, but he could tell she was leaning back from him a bit, not fear exactly. No, he'd pissed her off, pulling her arms from around his neck. He'd never withheld his affections with her. Not until now.

"Nah, ya didn't." He shook his head, looking down at her pale slender wrists where his ruddy skin was pressed against hers and all he could think was that it was his grimy hands all over her perfect skin and he shuddered at the thought that he could be the one to mar her flesh. He released her wrists quickly and if he shoved her away from him a bit it was only because he needed the distance from her for a minute. To make sense of all the shit going on in his head and she looked so shocked that he'd just berated her. And seeing her look at him like that, being so far from her even though he was the one that put her there, made him almost as mad as her doing something so careless as approaching what could have been a dangerous situation empty-handed.

He turned around to face her again. "Ever heard the sayin' 'don't bring a knife to a gun fight?'" She was just eyeballing him from where she stood a few feet away. He could tell he'd gotten her attention even if she hadn't nodded in agreement.

"Know what's worse than that?" He barely waited the beat of a breath before finishing. "Bringing _no_ knife to a gun fight."

"But-" Her protest died on her lips as he came closer, looming over her.

"I gotta know you can protect yourself Beth. We're riskin' our lives bein' out here now. Just so I can teach how to defend yourself. In case. In case of." He didn't let himself finish. He couldn't bear the thought let alone speak the words aloud. He turned back to face her, relenting a little. "It's just that stupid gets you killed. And what you just did is that. It was _stupid._ "

His voice rose with the last word out of his mouth and he felt that fear burning up a path inside of him and it gave way to anger. Anger that her doing something, so half-assed was what would take her away from him. He couldn't bear the thought. He pointed to his head, feeling like he was spiraling, losing control. He struggled with his words on a normal day but none of this was normal. None of it felt right. Teaching your girl how to defend herself against the whole goddamn world that was out to get them could not possibly be considered normal.

"You gotta think. Just try to act like you're more than a pretty face, before you get us both killed. Jesus Christ, even your sister knows better 'an that."

He knew it was all sorts of wrong the instant it left his mouth and he stared at her, watched it all process in her expression and wished he could pluck them right back out of the air and swallow them deep into his churning gut. He knew he'd fuck things up eventually and this was it.

It was written all over her face, fire burning in her eyes like she could engulf him in flames with one stare like some wild fire-starter, and he thought maybe he was already scorched. Everything was a blur after that. She took one step forward and reared her hand back. Anticipating her move, he grabbed her wrist holding it against him, gripping her hard.

She stood there staring at him, chest heaving and he was out of breath too and he looked at her lips all full, plump (ripe for his cock) and some unknown tenable cable he didn't even know was tethered, snapped and broke. He acted on pure instinct, an instinct he'd later question, but right now it was fight or flight and he sure as shit wasn't running and before he even knew what hit him he had her pinned against the wall, the palm of his hand flush against the delicate curve of her neck. Time seemed to stop and it was all down to his senses.

His hunter's instincts took over and he didn't smell fear coming from her. She was a different sort of prey altogether. Not the kind he was used to hunting but now that he caught her, he smelled her. Smelled the burning desire welling up from her heat. And it awakened something in him, something raw, primal. Her eyes were wide in surprise and tears had formed, bright, shining sadness and ache and want and something broke inside of him, just shattered inward over and over again, a colliding avalanche of glass. A kaleidoscope of of brilliantly colored, splintered shards, broken all around him and in him.

Broken like he'd almost broken her.

He didn't mean it.

He _did_ mean it.

He wanted to rip his clothes from his body and tear through the earth, drag her with him if he had to, and annihilate everything that dared to threaten their existence. Threatened her existence because it was simple.

 _She must exist._

It was selfish and he felt like the most horrible bastard in the world for thinking it but he wanted to bargain with God that if it came down to it. If push came to shove, he'd trade any one of them, any one of them at the prison, to be able to keep her with him. And that was awful and it wasn't human, was it? It couldn't be. That was the way of the animals, the wild and untamed and that's how he felt right now. Untamed. Unbridled.

 _Feral._

With an animalistic growl he didn't know he possessed he let his hand slide down to her hip, gripping her hard, knowing he was leaving marks but unable to stop himself (and he knew she didn't want him to. If there was any question, he knew he could pull himself back. Knew it even if he didn't know why he wanted to do this, be like this, in the first place). With her back still pressed against the wall of the cave, he rocked against her, pinning her there with his hips.

She gasped and her mouth dropped open, he used one knee placing it between her legs to nudge her legs apart and she spread them for him so easily and there were words on the tip of his tongue he wanted to say but didn't know if he could, and then he was sliding his hand down immediately and possessively covering her pussy through her jeans his palm pressing into her, rough, hard. She gasped as he gripped her hard, fingertips pressing into her core, not quite understanding this sudden need to claim her, mark her, own every perfect inch of her skin.

He pulled back to look at her, knowing everything was already fucked and thought she might slap him again. He would have deserved if it she had. Hell, he'd welcome a slap from her and that was odd too.

He'd taken her a lot of ways and sometimes fast and sometimes rough, but he'd never been like this. He'd never felt a need to overpower her quite like this. No this was something different entirely. This was a deep and innate need that he wasn't quite sure about but in looking into her eyes he should have realized that she would roll with it. This girl, his girl, always pushing the limits, always testing the boundaries and this should be no exception for her. Hell it seemed the way her eyes burned deep and hard and dark into his, smoking almost, that she wanted this. No, she needed this.

Just as much as he needed it. He was starkly and suddenly rock hard with needing it and the weight of his molten need settled heavy into his balls.  
He found a voice and clipped out words that he didn't know he had the fortitude to utter, fairly growling them in her ear. _"Whose cunt is this?"_ He was pressed against her and his mouth was against her ear and he felt her shiver all over at his question. He pulled back to watch her, he needed to see her while she answered his filthy question that he ached for her to answer.

She never even missed a beat, like she'd been waiting for him to ask. "Yours." Her breath was hot in his face and he could almost taste the want of her. Still he had to hear her again.

"Whose?" He pulled on her harder, his fingers digging in and he could feel how wet she was all the way through her jeans. "Wet little pussy already ready. You're drippin', girl. Better _fuckin'_ be for me."

Her voice was breathless as she answered him, full of desire. "Your wet pussy. It's yours, Daryl. It's for you. Its only ever been you." It rushed out from between her sweet lips and her eyelids were heavy, but her pupils were blown wide. Such filth he was coaxing from her mouth and this was actually turning her on and he wasn't sure what to do with that. He was sure as shit turned on. He was achingly rock hard and heavy in his jeans, the weight of his balls and the press of his cock straining against his zipper. He didn't know what to do with any of this. He wasn't sure what to do with half the shit that him and Beth got up to and so he did what he always did. He went with it and he could process it all later.

"You're damn right it is." He reached up and flicked the button on her jeans, deftly working it loose and sliding the zipper, all while keeping his other hand pressed against her neck, his thumb tracing up and down the smooth expanse of skin on the column of her neck. Her chest was heaving and her breasts jutted out from the fabric of his flannel, nipples already begging for his mouth. In the end he couldn't work her pants down her legs and still maintain his hold on her. He held her in place like she was going to run away if he didn't (though by the smoldering look in her eyes and the desire he could smell coming off her in wave after delicious wave, she wasn't going anywhere).

"Take em off." His voice was short, clipped and he saw a little shiver run through her, her hands shaking slightly as she slid the pants over her the curve of her hips. He recognized that shiver. It's the exact move her body made right before he delved his tongue into her tight heat. Or slid two thick fingers inside her, finger-fucking her to orgasm. It was the shiver of quiet anticipation, of knowing what was coming. Or in this case, who was coming.

He smirked as he watched her, realizing she indeed had gone commando. Good, he thought, as he wasted no time in pressing his palm against her now naked flesh and fought the urge to throw her to the floor of the cave they were in and have her right then and there. Instead he poised his fingers outside her lips, teasing for a minute, feeling her breath quicken before using his thumb and index finger, spreading her lips apart while his middle finger slid into her folds, watching her mouth form an 'o' while he worked one finger inside her tight channel. He felt her walls clench and clutch around his thick digit and she squirmed beneath his grasp.

He didn't even hesitate, pulled his fingers out of her and pulled his hand back and slapped her hard on the side of her thigh and she moaned loudly and her mouth was dropped open like she was waiting for his cock to be jammed in it and he thought maybe he'd like that. Just ram it in there while he fisted her hair into a ponytail pulling her against him, deep throating her with his dick until he came down her throat. Fucking hell, he was hard right now just thinking about it. She was begging for it now, wiggling her hips on purpose. She liked this as much as he did.

He reared back and slapped her again, watching the red bloom on her pale white skin and he nearly came at the thought of slapping her over her sex, how it might feel, the sting of his palm on her pussy lips where he knew she was aching for him right now. He shelved the thought for later and didn't waste time, spreading her apart, not teasing this time, just ramming his fingers back in there and she fucking ate it up, rocking her hips against his hand.

"Oh yeah, baby so tight." It was like he couldn't stop talking once he started and the words that Merle had used so easily finally found their way out of his mouth. "Such a tight pussy." All the while stroking her clit with one finger and then he added another finger where it was already impossibly tight and she stood suspended, on tiptoe because she was impossibly shorter than him and his fingers were knuckle deep inside her, probing her velvet walls. He finally released her neck, firm in the knowledge that his other hand held her in place, inside her heat. He knew she was not going anywhere the way she was writhing herself all over his hand, trying to help him along in finding her release. He used his free hand to reach down and unbutton her shirt (his shirt to be exact and she looked better in it than him, but he knew she'd look even better out of it. He finished unbuttoning all the while pumping his thick digits in and out of her, toying with her clit on each swipe. Finally her tits were freed and he wasted no time in reaching out and closing his thumb and forefinger over one dusky rose nipple and pinched hard as he finger-fucked her into oblivion.

"Daryl, I need." She was gasping, her head thrown back, sweat running down between her perfect tits, and another wave of primal passion swept through him.

"What do you need baby girl?" He bent his head down to her, fastening his lips over her nipple while she moaned and gasped and arched her back against his hand and pushed her chest against his mouth, her fingers weaving through his hair, nails skimming his scalp.

"I can't." She was shaking her head and he pulled his fingers out of her and stepped back, almost like he had practiced this, except he hadn't. She was left gaping at him, shirt open, tits hanging out, pants dangling from one ankle, her pussy lips on perfect display the way she was spread out for him. Her skin was flushed in every visible place and God he just wanted to lick every square inch of her until she couldn't remember her name. Only his as she screamed it into the night.

"Ain't gonna touch you again until you say it. What do you want from me girl?" He reached down and stroked himself through his jeans and made sure she saw it (she did, oh she did) and he knew. He knew what she wanted even if she hadn't said it. He could see it in her eyes, he felt it in her cunt, so wet, dripping. For him.

She looked up at him, eyes all wide, oh but anything but innocent. Her lips curved into a small smile, her cheeks prettily flushed, hair frizzed around her face, and her breasts heaving, dusky rose nipples begging to be kissed and sucked and pulled. She was a mess, a beautiful mess and she was all his. "Your cock. I want your cock. Oh god, please Daryl, please just _fuck me with it."_

That filthy four letter word falling from her sweet lips was his undoing every time. He was on her before either of them knew what hit them, her back pressed against the wall and he whipped his pants down, though not off. There wasn't time. Gripping his hands on her ass he lifted her up and over his ready and throbbing cock, sliding inside her sweet cunt, and they both groaned at the angle and the fit and god, it was pretty much perfect. _She was pretty much perfect._

You'd think that would provide relief, finally coming together after so much tension, and their fight, but it didn't. It almost didn't help at all and he set a fast rhythm, looking at her as he bent her body to his will, like he was plucking the cord on his bow. She was like a Goddess, a prize, a goddamn gift and that raw and powerful urge rose up in him again. It was a waxing and waning sort of passion, like too much at once and they would both ignite and explode (he honestly could think of worse ways to die). One hand on her lower back and one hand pressed against the wall, he drew his hips back and slammed back into her again before either of them took another breath.

"Oh. God. Daryl." She might have been saying, loud but not enough to drown out the storm outside. And she was beautiful and he crushed his mouth to hers, his tongue seeking and finding entrance and her hands where they'd been gripping his biceps came up to cup either side of his face as their tongues slid together, just a mess of lips and teeth and tongue and god, he just knew he was going to die, burn up from the inside out because he had to have her all at once, had to keep her safe, had to protect her, but he couldn't could he?

There was all manner of things outside this cave that sought to devour everything inside of them. To take from them. To strip them. Of their humanity. Their dignity. Their very life blood. He thought of what the Governor had done to Maggie and he couldn't bear the same thing happening to Beth.

Somehow his words started tumbling from him all at once, like a well of something had built and there was nowhere left for it to go. It was like it wasn't even him, wasn't even his voice, broken, desperate and pleading with her, with God, with anyone who would listen. Like some sort of biblical prophecy, a dam burst and it rushed out of him, the raw emotion crashing all around them.

" _Can't, Beth. Can't. Can't lose you baby, you gotta promise. Please. Baby girl, I need you. Can't lose you. Love you, Beth. Love you."_  
His lips were urgently spreading kisses all over her face and he didn't even know if she could hear him and somewhere along the line his punishing rhythm had slowed into this cadence of deep-seated need and a belonging he felt within him, to an infinite depth, and he didn't know where he ended and she began. As the sound of their skin slapping together and their quiet desperate gasps were the only things that could be heard and time slid sideways for him, he knew in his whole life he'd never feel like he did when he was inside her. Just like this. The two of them, coming together, her essence tattooed onto his existence like an indelible ink, imprinted for life.

"God. Daryl. Yes." One syllable chant seemed all she was capable of now. All this time and now she was the one at a loss for words. She didn't know how they had gotten here, her back pressed against the wall of the cave, neither of them fully undressed, but melting together like their bodies had somehow fused into one. He never been exactly like this before. Never just took her like this. Sometimes rough, sometimes fast, yes, but never this hard. Never with this urgency, this raw primal need and she thought maybe she was getting her wish.

Her wolf had come home and he was now marking his territory. Every inch of her skin burned with some part of him and where he'd been and still she wanted more. More of his cock, more of his fingers on her skin, inside her, clawing into her until she bled. Bruising, claiming, marking her. She wanted to be consumed by him, devoured and spun out and oh god, please, she just wanted to be a withering absolute wreck and she was getting close.

He was hitting a place inside of her that he could normally only hit with his fingers but his strokes were long, hard, steady and hitting her in the right place with every single thrust. He'd burned a path over her skin, making a map of the outer shell of her, and now he was marking every inch inside her, driving into her and sliding against that spot. Again. Again. Again. Oh god yes, and then she slipped over that edge, her orgasm ripping through her like the lightning that suddenly pierced the sky and just like the thunder that soon followed, waves of pleasure rumbled through her rough, hard, fast, rattling every bone in her body until she was in some airy floating state, in a place out of time (like really not even on this planet) and she felt a gush of wet between her legs. Startled, she looked up at Daryl, horrified that she'd wet herself.

Wait, she'd read about this in that trivia book. She remembered because she'd told Daryl how weird she thought it would be for women to come in the same way that men did and here she was coming all over his dick that was still pulsing inside her. He hadn't stopped his movements but had slowed them, somewhat carefully taking in her expression.

A chuckle rumbled up out of him as he shook his head. "Didn't know you could do that."

"I didn't either." She blushed and giggled, nearly giddy from what she knew were endorphins but she equated it with how very enamored she was of this man. Then it started all over again and she forgot who he was. Forgot her name, because he was still hitting that spot every single time. She didn't squirt as much the second time, but still felt the thin, warm liquid oozing between them and everything slid deliciously together again and before she knew it she came a third time, sobbingly so and still he hadn't finished and she was nearly weightless and spent and she no longer recognized the quiet keening, moaning, sound that was just a continual pulse of aftershocks, rocking her core.

Finally, he looked down at her, eyes locking onto hers, zoning in on her where she loved for him to be and where he always seemed to need to be when he came. She swore she saw his orgasm bursting behind his pupils. Saw the moment it broke through and washed over him, back arching, fingers gripping hard into her hips, like he was chasing her down but there was nowhere on this godforsaken earth than she would rather be than right here right now, his dick pulsing harder and harder, and his body went into rigid, fluid movements as his feral grunts filled the air around them.

And he didn't have to say anything. She saw it in his eyes and they seemed to say. _"I love you, I'm sorry, don't you ever do that to me again, I need you, I can't live without you."_ His eyes said all that while his mouth cried her name over and over and over again, his body rolling through each movement. And she thought she had never seen anything more beautiful, her Daryl, her _wolf_ , spilling his heavy seed deep within her and it was probably stupid of both of them but she couldn't care. Not when she was floating like she was right now.

Somehow she ended up wrapped in his poncho tucked against him both of them leaning against the same wall he'd just fucked her senseless against. Her breathing was even and deep and in time with his, him smoothing the hair back from her face while she existed on some other plane, lulled into a dreamless sleep where wolves roamed free and howled in the silvery light of the moon.


	3. Chapter 3

**EEEEEEKKKKKKKK! Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews that I devoured like crack. You are fabulous!**

After Beth fell good and asleep he got up and put his pants back on and went to the mouth of the cave and it was really coming down hard. Not a walker in sight and that was a good thing. He didn't know how they'd manage to keep from getting hit by the frequent lightning that was striking down outside every few minutes. It was one hell of a storm.

After awhile he came back and laid down beside her, wide awake. He laid there for a really long time, Beth curled into his side, just like always and he had one arm draped around her while the world outside raged. He'd barely paid attention to when the storm started. Now granted part of that time had been spent driving his cock into his wife and everything had been so intense he wouldn't have known if the whole goddamn world caved in on them.

But it was more than that, he had spent most of the last half hour playing and replaying the events that had just transpired. On the one hand, he was cognizant and had clear memories of every single thing that happened and on the other, it felt like he was observing it all. Like it had happened to someone else. Like he had _been_ someone else. He thought that maybe he had but it was a different sort of doppelganger. He had been a mirror image of himself. Dark and light on opposite sides and all it took was one moment of crippling fear and dread to flip everything around to where he no longer knew if it was day or night. And he became the darker side of himself again.

The wind was picking up a little outside and the air felt extremely heavy and the oppressive heat of the day was not quelled at all by the pounding rain outside. Occasionally the sound of falling rain was punctuated with a loud crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning illuminated the cave entrance. It was a different sort of night altogether and he could sense the shift in the elements, a palpable change and he got that niggling feeling again that something was coming, but it was so unclear.

Beth shifted next to him and his attention was drawn back to her. She got like this sometimes, especially when she came especially hard several times in a row. He smirked to himself even as his dick twitched at the thought of all the things he had done to her. Had said to her. Things he had never said before. Things he would have never considered saying. Hell, he wasn't even sure Merle would utter some of the filth that had flowed out of his own mouth tonight and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

Thing was, Beth was curled against him and he knew that was only possible because of the implicit trust between them. She hadn't been bothered by anything they'd done tonight. Because of that, he felt okay about everything. And he knew they'd talk about all of it too. It was just the us that was part of them.

" _Whose cunt is this?"_ His own words seemed to reverberate off the walls of the cave, reminding him of every grunt, every moan, every breathy sigh that escaped her lips. More than anything, what he could recall was the way her pupils had been showing signs of her want before he asked her that question but as soon as it was out of his mouth, it was like the rest of her cornflower blue irises were swallowed up by desire darkening her gaze, which was unerringly on him, solely on him and he'd never forget the look on her face as she told him.

" _Your wet pussy. It's yours, Daryl. It's for you. Its only ever been you."_

When she'd said that, it incited a side of him that he didn't know existed and he knew it was only because of her that it surfaced at all. Her, with her freshly kissed lips, flushed cheeks, wheat blonde hair hair all askew, legs spread wide for him, always for him, and he knew he'd never really understand it all. The way she just drove him to newer experiences, taking the pleasure between them to new heights, taking him to a place inside him that clawed at the wreckage that is his psyche. He knows it. He fucking knows it's because of his fucked up childhood that he even would consider something like this but he knows she needs it too, just for different reasons. Sometimes she is the one that needs to be in control and that's fine with him too. But what they had just done had far surpassed anything they'd ever experienced. He almost wanted to wake her up so they could talk about it now, while it was all fresh, while they were still here in this weird place out of time. (or some shit)

It was almost as if when they stepped into this cave, they stepped back in time to some prehistoric realm where raw animal instinct took over and primal urges were satisfied instead of squelched by social norms. By what was familiar. By what wasn't taboo. It wasn't like he had planned it but _fuck. Just fuck._ It had been so good. She had been so good. His cock was getting hard just thinking about having her like that again. Hard. Rough. Against the wall with her bouncing up and down, her small but perfect tits jostling along with her. He reached down and palmed himself through his pants.

 _He wanted her._

She turned over in her sleep and shifted away from him and the poncho fell from her hips revealing her perfect ass. God he was fucking rock hard and he couldn't help ghosting his finger along the line that separated her ass cheeks, all the way down to the gap in her thighs. She shifted a bit and he could swear he heard her moan in her sleep. He didn't know exactly what he was doing but he was just fascinated with this part of her body all the sudden and he realized that it was something he wanted to explore. He carefully shifted to his side and slid down so his face was lined up perfectly with her ass and put his index finger back to the bottom of her spine and applied just a little more pressure as he reached the dip in her lower back and traced that slit down the center of her and he definitely heard it this time. A low moan slipping from between her lips and he smirked to himself, knowing this was turning her on. In fact he was betting she was already wet for him. God know he was ready for her, but all in good time. Right now he just wanted to explore every inch of this new fascination.

She shifted a bit on her side so her knees were bent and he had better access. She was definitely awake, that much was evident. He continued slow lazy traces of his finger up and down her ass crack, his finger practically twitching with the need to dip in more, explore further. But he waited for her signal. She'd tell him when she was ready for more and she was close. He could hear it in her rapid breathing, her breathy little sighs. He traced his finger back up and simultaneously shifted himself again where he was lying on his side, his face practically flush with her ass, letting his warm breath wash over her and she arched up into his finger. He smiled.

For whatever reason, he didn't want to speak. At least not just yet. He liked that it was silent and this was new too, especially considering what they had just done. He placed his other hand, palm flat, fingers outstretched, cupping her ass, kneading softly as he continued tracing that same line and she moaned even louder.

"Shhh." That's all he said and she went back to quiet gasps as he continued his manual assault on her backside. Fucking. _Fuck_. God, he was so hard. He didn't think he had ever been this hard twice in one night, but his cock was throbbing and he realized what he wanted. He wanted to fuck her. He wanted to press his palms to her soft flesh and spread her wide, and fuck her tight hole with his rock hard erection.

It should have shocked him. The thought of it, the thought of taking her in that way, but it didn't. He let it settle for a minute and he knew he had to take his time and he loved that he could take his time with her this way. He didn't know if she wanted it to go that far, but he could test the waters. So he did the only thing he could. He sent her a clear signal of his intent. He stilled his movements and removed his hands from her and just as he thought she would, she practically hissed at him. He grinned as he placed his hands back on her ass, one hand on either cheek and spread her, revealing the bottom of her pussy and his current object of desire, that tight hole with the puckered skin and she was dripping for him, her juices running down over her ass. Absolutely fucking soaked and he knew she was loving this was much as he was.

He finally broke the silence. "I wanna touch you here." He knew she got what he meant. He'd touched her pussy plenty of times from this position. He was asking a different sort of permission.

"Oh God, please do." Her voice was raspy, almost pained.

"Get on all fours." They'd been in this position before, but he really wanted her relaxed. He got up and slid the poncho the rest of the way off of her. "And take off that shirt." He wanted her naked, primitive, and gloriously naked so he could see all of her. Spread out before him, like something he could eat. And maybe he would.

 _Fuck._

"Okay." She answered him in a one word breathy reply and he could see the trembling in her limbs as she got her body into position, on her hands and knees in the dirt, her ass perfectly displayed before him and the pink flesh slick and glistening with her juices that he was dying to dive in and lick clean but right now he had a mission and that was getting her in the most comfortable position so he could plunder her ass like he wanted. He rolled the poncho into a ball and placed the backpack in front of her with that on top of it. "Lean down and rest your head here." He patted at the makeshift pillow he'd created and she nodded and did as she was told and he could feel the tension coming off of her in waves and god he could _smell_ her. Could smell himself on her too. Her scent beckoned him, that lavender shampoo and their passion and her cunt practically called him in, and he realized he wanted to devour all of her at once. It was just a theme with him, wanting to be completely swallowed by her, just let himself get lost in her pale curves and soft lips and warm touches.

He forced a deeper breath on himself as he positioned himself on the cave floor behind her, sitting sideways so he could see every bit of what he was going to do to her, which he didn't know exactly what that was just yet but that was okay. That was what this was about, exploring possibilities.

Right now, those possibilities seemed endless as he just stared at what was before him in awe. Smooth, wide expanse of skin, the muscles visibly clenched and he knew he needed to fix that. He reached up and placed his hands on either cheek and began to knead her flesh, spreading her on each squeezing upstroke, parting her, exposing her, relaxing her and molding her to his will. His mouth went dry as he held her cheeks open and a lightning bolt of raw desire ripped through his cock and settled as a dull throbbing heat in his balls looking at the slightly darker skin that surrounded the furrowed grooves of her asshole, bright and slick with her juices. Just imagining what it would feel like to be _in there_. He continued to knead, spreading her wider with each pass of his hands until he finally just kept her spread, his movements stilled again, as he shifted his position, his erection fairly throbbing between his legs.

"Just look at you. Fuckin' beautiful." He whispered harshly, taking one hand off of her and tracing his finger back down her crack, applying deeper pressure as he got closer and closer until he got to her asshole and just ghosted his finger over the puckered flesh, sliding down to her dripping lips and dipped his finger in at her pussy, toying with her opening.

She moaned loudly and her pants had increased as she ground her pelvis down into his hand. She was about to come now, he could tell it was going to take much. He dragged his finger out of her slit and back up to her ass and applied more pressure on this sweep of his finger and she pressed her backside into his hand and he gripped her cheek more firmly, his fingers pressing in, probably bruising and without warning he leaned forward and slid the flat of his tongue from the bottom of her pussy all the way up, dragging slowly, torturously slow until the tip of his tongue reached her hole and he just pulsed it rapidly in and out of the outer ring of her hole. Once. Twice. Again. Again and she started thrusting her ass into his tongue with each pass and he reached under her with his free hand, inserting one finger into her sopping cunt and thrust it deep inside her and she groaned loudly. "Oh God, Daryl. Please. Your finger." She had been silent until now, but the words rushed out of her.

He withdrew his tongue from her momentarily to get out. "My finger where sweetheart. You tell me or I stop." His voice was soft gentle and he knew he wouldn't have to ask her twice this time.

" _In my ass. Oh God, it feels so fucking good._ " There it was again. His damnable undoing. Whatever hold he had on that tight control just about slipped with that expletive falling from her lips and he withdrew his hand from her pussy and slapped her ass. Hard. He waited for her to tell him it hurt, to stop, nothing, but all he heard were gasps of pleasure. His hand stung and she groaned loudly as the echo of his palm against her soft flesh echoed around them and she pressed her ass backwards. "Oh God, again." So he did. Slapped it again. Hard and though it was dim in the cave, he knew it had left a print. Had to. "Again." Her voice was barely a whisper and she groaned as he did it again. And again. And again. He finally stopped and she hissed at him again and he growled.

"Gonna finger your asshole now baby." That was enough to shut her up (he'd have to remember how to make her this speechless in the future) except for a guttural moan that rolled out of her at his words and she trembled before him, her legs shaking in anticipation. It was all about words with her. With both of them. Which was weird because he was a man of few words. Until he got to doing shit with Beth.

She walked her knees out a little further, offering herself to him, her ass turned up even better, spread wide and he reached down and undid his belt, kicking himself out of his pants as his cock sprung free, almost painfully hard now. He got behind her and picked up where he left off, working her up again, his hands kneading, massaging her perfectly round mounds of flesh, until finally he was parting her again and he let go with one hand and pressed his finger into her dripping core and she moaned as she clenched around his finger and then almost whimpered as he pulled it out of her, dragging her juices with him, his index finger landing on his prize, that tight little hole and he circled his finger slowly around and around it and she was sopping, soaked with her cunt juices and he wondered idly if he could make her squirt from this angle.

He continued this slow teasing pace, circling her hole and then dipping his finger back down into her pussy, gathering up lubrication and fingering the outer ring of her asshole until she was writhing back into him. By the time he had done this two or three dozen times she was sopping wet and he pressed in a little further on his next pass and a little more until finally he just pulsed his finger in and out in short little movements and when he thought she couldn't stand it anymore he reached up and grabbed onto her ass, gripping it, stilling her movements. "If it hurts, just say it and I'll stop. Okay?" He whispered and he hardly recognized the rawness in his own voice.

She was only capable of nodding at this point and she did so rapidly, her breath coming in short pants. He pressed his finger in slowly, slowly, penetrating the outer ring and pressed inward until his finger was fully seated in her asshole and God it was so fucking tight and he nearly came right then and there thinking about pressing his cock inside her in this way, fucking her tightness. She groaned against him and gasped at the entrance and he gave her a minute before withdrawing, choosing instead to crook his finger back and forth inside her, experimenting, feeling the smooth, clenched walls, so different from what her pussy felt like. It was the right move. She gasped and clenched and writhed her ass all over the place, and he continued doing it, dragging his other hand down her slit to her cunt still dripping wet from his little experiment and he gathered up more juices, spreading it all around his finger where it was still wedged into her hole and he was fascinated with the way it seemed to swallow up his digit.

 _Fuck._

Fucking hell he was gonna blow. He took a few deep breaths and and started slow. Just very slow, drawing his finger almost all the way out, spreading his thumb all around the puckered flesh, making sure the entry was slick each time. She was so wet he didn't think he needed to worry about it but he wanted to make certain that this was comfortable, pleasurable. He knew it was, she was begging for it, thrusting her ass into his hand as he finger-fucked her asshole and she was getting louder as he began thrusting his middle finger of his other hand into her pussy, feeling her walls start to clench around him. He added another finger into her cunt as he finger fucked both holes simultaneously, the squelching sound of her sopping wet cunt filling the air around them.

"God I love your ass. You're so tight baby girl. Fucking. _Fuck_. Just fuck. I wanna fuck your tight little hole so bad. Just fuck." He was wailing on both holes and she was gasping and panting and thrusting herself into his hands, impaling herself on his fingers, and he felt a warm gush inside of her as her orgasm ripped right through her, her back arching up as she fucked herself over his hands, over and over as it seemed to nearly jolt her off the ground until her movements slowed and he withdrew his fingers from her, a trail of her juices dribbling out of her. He leaned forward and spreading slow open mouthed kisses all over her ass, her skin soft and warm, hot even as he lapped up her sweetness like a man dying of thirst as the gentle oasis poured out of her, and _oh god_ , was she ever sweet and he hated that any drop of it was wasted earlier.

"You better fuck me right now Dixon." Her voice was a smoky raspy whisper and he wasted no time, getting on his knees and lining himself up with her entrance, teasing the head of his cock over her, coated himself as he pressed his cock against her asshole, teasingly. She groaned her appreciation. But not now. _Not this time_ , he smirked to himself.

He reached around and slid his hand up and over her torso, resting on her breast and palming it, her nipple pressing up into him as he parted her folds and glided slowly inside her. His moan joined hers as he felt her walls stretch around him as he filled her. He pulled her back against him and rocked his hips forward, seating himself fully inside her before he began to move. It was all a blur after that. Just him pounding into her and her taking it and she was giving it back to him in spades, her ass thrusting back against him, matching him stroke after stroke. "Daryl, I'm gonna…." She didn't finish her sentence as her second orgasm tore through her like the lightning that pierced the darkness outside and a veil of light crashed over her, lighting up the moment and lighting him up inside as he pounded into her, feeling himself bottom out with each thrust into her core. He felt his balls tightening and fucking hell he was lucky he'd lasted this long.

He leaned back to watch his cock enter her perfectly pretty pussy, fucked dark pink and her tight hole above it and he wanted to watch her come one more time, feel her come around his dick again and he fingered around her asshole again and she was impossibly wet now, her juices mixed with the sweat that had formed on her, and his mixing with hers, just one sweaty mess as he finally inserting his finger on the third pass. His dick pounded into her pussy and his finger fucked her ass as he plundered every hole he had access to, just pouring himself into her, wanted to be swallowed up by her cunt, just drive himself inside of her until he was warm, safe, inside the cocoon of their love. Her pussy started clenching around him and he lost all control, and he moved one hand to her hip, his own hips bucking forward as his release found him and she was taken in by hers all at the same time. And a growl ripped up out of him as his orgasm tore through his body, wrenching him forward into her with a driving force. And it was glorious and exhilarating and he could hardly breathe when they finally floated back down into one another. He withdrew himself from her and knew they were probably fucked (pun pretty much intended in this case) pretty soon if they didn't get some condoms.

But he couldn't care about that right now, not when she turned herself over and pulled him down beside her, her lips on his, tongue thrusting into his mouth as she kissed him deeply. "I love you." She said softly as she pulled away.

"I love you too." Neither of them said anything for a bit. They just traced lazy patterns over one another's skin, basking in the warmth of the moment.

"So can we talk about why I didn't have my knife out now? Or are you gonna throw me up against the wall again?" She said, looking up at him, that teasing glint back in her eyes.

"Didn't hear you complainin' none." He cocked one eyebrow in a challenge and she knew he had a point. He smirked.

"True." She smiled at him and he was pulled under her spell as usual. "I didn't have my knife out because I heard your scratch." She reached up and held a finger to his lips, killing his protest before it even formed. "And I could-." She paused again. "I could smell you."

His eyes widened in surprise and he pulled back to look at her. "You trying to say I stink, Greene?"

"My last name changed you know. Or did you forget Mr. Dixon?" She grinned at him saucily. "No, you don't stink. Well, we probably both do _now_." She giggled. "But you told me when I started hunting that my senses would take over. Well they did. I knew it was you because you have a very distinctive scent."

He snorted even though he knew she was probably right. But he didn't say anything. Because it was apparent she was going to tell him exactly what his scent was. God this was going to be good.

"You smell like cigarettes and leather and well…..man." She finished and the lightning struck outside again, lighting up the inside of the cave for a long moment and she looked so beautiful lying there tucked beside him, her hair a golden veil, spread out around them, telling him that his lessons had taken hold and her instincts had taken over. And he couldn't be more proud of her.

"You did good." He pulled her against him, eyes shining with pride, pressing his nose into her hair. His hands spanned her back, that cloying lavender smell even more so now with the rain dampening the air around them. "You did real good. 'M sorry."

She pulled back. "For what?"

"For acting like a jerk. Not listenin' to your side before I manhandled ya. It just scared me Beth. Scared the hell out of me to think." He didn't finish, his breaths had become a little ragged as he sagged against her. "I can't bear the thought of anything happenin' to you." He breathed out.

She was silent for a moment. "Ain't nothin' gonna happen to me." Her eyes took him in and enveloped him in the warmth of her small smile. "You won't let it. _We_ won't let it."

"Yeah well, I am hereby declarin' the hide and seek portion of those lessons over. You've proved you can hide. 'S good enough for me. I don't want you leavin' my side from now on." His voice was stern and really brooked no argument. He knew she wouldn't though. She was nothing if not a good student.

"Then I won't. 'Sides it was lonely here in this cave without you." She practically purred at him, snuggling closer. "So what's going on out there, we stuck here for the night?"

He nodded. "Mmhmm. I think so. It's coming down like cats and dogs and shows no signs of lettin' up. Not even the walkers are out. Guess even the dead don't like storms."

"Yeah well it can storm all night if it wants, fine by me. We'll just stay here in our magical cave." Beth said softly.

"Magical huh?" He smiled into the darkness. Sometimes that pretty little head of hers amazed him. Who was he kidding, he was in perpetual awe of this girl. _His girl._

"Yeah, I was thinking before you came back that you were like the Alpha wolf coming to find your mate." She giggled and he found that he didn't hate the idea. In fact he thought maybe it was fitting as that's kind of how he had felt when he'd let his feral instincts take over and he gave in to a more basic need.

"You were my little she-wolf in heat." He said and she giggled again and he loved making her laugh like this.

"And then you fucked me doggy style." She collapsed into giggles at that and he had to admit it was pretty funny. He figured with her, the joke was always pretty much going to be on him but he was oddly okay with that. Because this was her. Just part of the us that was them. Their low laughter was drowned out by the thunder as the storm marched on outside.

But inside, in the place carved out of the earth, he thought maybe it was carved out of the time continuum too. She was right. It did feel magical, like they were the only two creatures left on the planet. Just an alpha male and his mate, their howling passion firing up the night (or some shit).

"Hey we gotta get some condoms before you end up knocking me up." Her voice had taken on a distant quality and he realized that he was about to pass out from exhaustion, both mental and physical.

He murmured his agreement as he felt her lean over him, press her lips to his cheek. "I'll take the first watch. You sleep." He didn't think he had a choice as his lids slid closed and he was vaguely aware of her getting up, pulling her clothes back on and the last conscious thought he had as she draped the poncho over him as she settled beside him was that he had never felt more at home. Out here, in the open, just the two of them, modern day wolves, against the world. Before he slipped into a dreamless sleep, he heard her humming and he recognized the song as she softly crooned.

 _If you could only see the beast you've made of me_  
 _I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free_  
 _Screaming in the dark, I howl when we're apart_  
 _Drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart_

 _My fingers claw your skin, try to tear my way in_  
 _You are the moon that breaks the night for which I have to howl_  
 _My fingers claw your skin, try to tear my way in_  
 _You are the moon that breaks the night for which I have to_

 _Howl, howl_  
 _Howl, howl_

 _Now there's no holding back, I'm making to attack_  
 _My blood is singing with your voice, I want to pour it out_  
 _The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound_  
 _I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallowed ground_

He managed a whisper in some half drunken state. "Love you Beth." And sleep then came to claim him, drifting away to run with wolves.

* * *

Beth hummed to herself as she dug out her diary and a flashlight and began to write furiously. She wanted to record every precious minute they had spent here, starting with the moment he'd walked in and ending with his whispered words of his love for her.

" _In this world now we don't get many chances at love but me and Daryl found it together. But we found more than that. I think we found the other half of ourselves that we've always been missing. But here in this cave we found something else entirely. It's like when we stepped through the mouth of this cave we were swallowed up whole by this burning fire within us. We can't let ourselves be consumed by what's outside this cave, all the death and decay and human deceit. But in here, we just allowed instinct to take over like we never had before and our desire consumed us, the flames licking at us until we were wallowing in it. Just deep longing and yearning like we've never felt before._

 _It's like this place is a magical place and Daryl laughed when I told him but I think deep down he knows what I'm saying. That stepping through this portal opened a door that had previously been bolted closed. We stripped ourselves down in body, mind and spirit and unlocked our deepest desires because I've never felt like I felt with him filling me up in every place I ached._

 _Sometimes I think Daryl really is my wolf and it makes sense because we're soul mates for life. Just two lone wolves riding out the apocalypse together."_

Beth put her journal and pencil back in her backpack and slid her hand over her flat belly and wondered if there was a little Dixon in there already. If they weren't careful it wouldn't be some idle musing in the middle of the night. It would be a reality. Maybe it was the soothing sounds of the rain outside or maybe it was because it felt like they were untouchable in here, in the belly of the earth, but the thought of a little piece of her and Daryl combined into one perfect little being warmed her heart and filled her with a distinct longing that she just was beginning to recognize, but she put it aside for now.

She leaned back against the wall of the cave and let her mind wander. It might be the end of the world out there but in here, it felt like life was just beginning. It was nearly audible as the heartbeat under her breast picked up speed, for outside, like an echo to her thoughts came the call of a wolf, high pitched like a siren. And it should have scared her but it didn't. It felt right. Normal. Not feral, but instinctual. And the only thought she had was she was home.

 _If you could only see the beast you've made of me_  
 _I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free_  
 _The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound_  
 _I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallow'd ground_

* * *

 **Well there you have it lovelies, the third and final chapter of Unlocking Desires. the lyrics are from the song "Howl" by Florence and the Machine. Hope you enjoyed this little jaunt through an exploration of the Prisoner of War world. Let me know how you liked this addition and happy end of Smut Week! Though I'm so sad to see it go! :( Oh well, tomorrow is another day and I don't think anyone will complain if anyone writes anything after today to add. lol Until next time, xoxoxo**

 **PS - I stg I am going to update a story of some kind this week. most likely Harvest, starting with tomorrow!**


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